Good Morning, Sensei
by Lucy Morningstar
Summary: Sesshoumaru is a teacher who shares a relationship with Kagome, his student. Over time their relationship is tested, due to their different perspective in lives. Will they live happily every after? Rated MA for mature content. Shoo you YIMS!
1. Good Morning, Sensei

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and its respective owners. :(

Summary: A series of connected one-shots, where Sesshoumaru is a teacher who shares a relationship with a student. Rated M for suggestiveness.

**Good Morning, Sensei**

"Good morning, Sensei," she greeted me as she passed through the corridor, smiling. I nodded and greeted her back politely and wanted to say more, but when I saw that smile on her lips, shaped to only convey warmth and politeness, of innocence and naivety, the words on my tongue quickly died.

"Don't you have class to teach right now?" she asked, tilting her head with a frown.

"That's correct, and I'm on way to Class 2-3 as we speak."

"Okay then. Have a good time. I see you later at two o'clock?"

"Yes, two o'clock as per normal." We said our goodbyes, and I resumed walking to class. I smiled thinking of her sarcasm; Class 2-3 was the worst class there was in the level.

It was only nine o'clock then, which meant there were five more hours to go. Or rather, as I felt it, five more thousand years.

As usual, she drew the blinds close and switched the radio on before we started. Michael Jackson's _One Day in Your Life_ started playing on the airwaves. I was thirteen when I was first introduced to the song. I had no idea what the lyrics meant then, but it had a sad pleasant melody that adhered to me, which in turn, gave me a sad pleasant feeling.

"Had lunch?" She asked casually as she leaned against the table. She stroked my neck with the back of fingers lightly and lovingly. Ticklish.

"I had a turkey and ham sandwich," I answered.

"Mm, sounds nice," she commented good-naturedly, then knelt down on the floor. "I had curry with rice. Bento from Mama." She pulled up the waistline of my pants tightly, then with the other hand proceeded to unzip it. "Next time, I'll ask her to make an extra one for you. Would you like that, Sensei?"

"Sound like a great idea. A bento meal. How nostalgic."

She giggled like the schoolgirl she was. "Everything is nostalgic to you, Sensei."

"What do you expect, I'm an old man."

"You're not that old." That said, she lowered my pants, and then eventually my underwear. I adjusted my position slightly so as to provide better access to her. She looked so cute and charming down there; I could never get tired of that sight. I ran my fingers through her fine hair and leaned backwards against my chair, as her mouth came in contact with my skin.

I focussed on Michael Jackson's singing as I stared at the wall clock above the door. The friend who had introduced me to the song—what was his name? I could not remember but what I could not forget was that three years following that, he had contracted some kind of disease and died. I was affected by his death—but then so was everyone. We could not believe someone so athletic and young as us, and so _normal_, could die so unexpectedly. As a result I began to make some heavy reflections on death, and then as life went on, promptly forgot about them.

"Not so fast, Kagome," I told her. "There's no need to rush. Take your time."

When I came she suddenly started coughing, which was strange. She couldn't have choked on my semen still given her experience. I took my handkerchief from my back pocket and wiped the corners of her lips as she stood before me.

"I told you to go slow, didn't I?" I scolded her. "What were you thinking? Your mind must have been somewhere else."

"I'm sorry," was all she said, shutting her eyes tightly. When they opened back, they looked right back at me, moist and glinting under the fluorescent light.

I sighed and shook my head as I kept back my handkerchief, feeling angry at myself. Who was I to be harsh? I was not even her father. Even her own father-if he was still alive-would not have scolded her for sure. Still in my chair, I wrapped my arms around her in a tight embrace. I pressed my nose against her neck and closed my eyes, wanting to lose myself in her, and in the moment. If I were to suddenly share the same fate as that friend, and die quickly soon in the future, this was a memory I would want to relive without end.

The song on the radio had long ended by then, replaced by a new one I had never heard before. Placing a hand on my shoulder, she sighed. It was as if she had been holding it for a long time.

**[A/N: It was around midnight when I wrote this, so it might explain the mood. Okay, who am I kidding—I always write like this! The reason why it's a series of one-shots is because I cannot trust myself to write long stories. I have commitment issues. I'll try my best to keep up with it however. Also this story is not centred on the surrounding sexual themes. It's not that I'm incapable of hot lemon but I didn't want to make it sound gratuitous. Blablabla, rambling as usual. Please drop a comment and thank you for reading! _]**


	2. First Date

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and its respective owners. :(

**A/N: Remember, this is a work of fiction, and that it is illegal for an adult to have sex with a minor. **

_Can't believe I got the second chapter up!_

_Warning: This one contains lemon._

**First Date**

During the course of our relationship, I only went out with Kagome once. Perhaps it was due to paranoia that someone might catch me in public with a schoolgirl. Or it could be that I never found our first time particularly interesting, and had not thought of repeating the experience.

Unsurprisingly, it had been her who brought the subject up. I was eating lunch at the teacher's section of the school canteen when she suddenly popped in beside me.

"Hi sensei. Are you eating?" she said with a wide smile. I could not answer her because my mouth was full of soba.

"Why are you not with your friends?" I finally asked her after swallowing my food.

"Nah, I told them I wanted to talk with my teacher."

"What did they say?"

"What?"

"What did your friends say when you told them you wanted to talk to your teacher?" I raised my voice.

She shrugged. "Oh. They just groaned."

We then heard shouts from the student section thrown into our direction. Kagome turned to look for awhile, then she patted my shoulder and bent to whisper close to me.

"Since today is a Friday, why don't we go out on a date?" she suggested.

I chewed on my noodles and did not answer her.

"Cmon, please? We never went out before," Kagome pleaded. She was tugging on my arm and the shouts were getting louder and shriller.

"Alright, I'll wait for you after school." I quickly said. She let out a squealed thanks and pressed on my arm tightly, before running off back from where she came from.

I ate the rest of my meal feeling bothered and uneasy.

As promised I picked her up after school ended. She didn't look like she was going to go home and change, whereas I was dying for a shower.

During the second half of the movie, Kagome suddenly started shifting in her seat. She asked some random questions about my life and pulled my hand to hold onto her lap, but her body still could not stop fidgeting. At last she whispered and admitted to me that she found the movie very boring. I had no choice but to make a premature exit out of the cinema with her.

We had dinner, and as we walked along the shopping centres Kagome saw a few things that caught her attention, so I bought them. This included a dress and a designer bag. I felt that shopping with her and making her smile, was more worthwhile than simply watching a movie.

The day progressed to night very quickly. Needless to say by the time we had gotten back in the car, my body was already feeling heated, due to the slow tension she had been building up inside of me throughout the whole day. If she wasn't dressed in her school uniform I would have booked a love hotel for sure. Instead I drove the car to a secluded carpark, where it was dark and practically soulless.

Kagome gave a childish coy whine when I slid my hand below her top. The feel of her hot skin gave me a new rush of arousal, that sprang from my head down to my loins. We kissed in the dark. I was impatient and rough, grabbing her face to my mouth. She put her hands against my chest and allowed me taste her. I groped at her firm young thighs. I sighed in her mouth.

Suddenly she turned her face away from me, and took a large gulpful of air.

"Do you want to switch on the radio?" she asked softly. It was the first thing anyone of us had spoken since we entered the car.

"Take off your bra," I told her instead. She brought her hands together at the back, then paused and looked into my eyes.

"Are you switching on the radio?" she asked again. There was a hint of urgency in her voice, as if not doing so would cause her dire consequences. I turned and pressed the radio button on, and fumbled with the tuner as she took off her bra.

"Okay," she said. I kissed her again and stroked her nipples under her blouse until they got hard. Then I opened my the fly of my trousers, and brought out my long-suffering erection from inside my underwear. I hissed upon the contact of my skin.

"Sensei," she called out when I grabbed and drew her legs apart. I told her to remove her underwear and she looked hesitant for awhile, so I went to the radio and adjusted the volume louder.

"Sensei is just playing with you," I said. "He's not going to do anything." She finally understood and dragged her panties off her feet. I pulled her legs closer to meet me, and covered her body with mine, pushing against her.

The girl gripped my body tightly, not wanting to let go. I strained to control my heavy breathing, as I slided my tumescent member along her wet vaginal lips. The tip of my penis hit against her clitoris and she gasped. Our bodies moved just like that against each other, mechanical and wordlessly; however our insides were burning with a kind of fire stoked by ragged breaths, and stolen moments of pleasure. In a faraway place Hideki Saijo sang disco.

She came with a strange, muffled sound, and I retracted away from her just in time as I found my own release. Kagome laid there in her seat, limp and spent out, her eyes glazed. A sheen of sweat glowed on her forehead.

I whispered closely to her face. "You were wonderful." She curled her upper lip silently in reply, and I turned to switch off the radio.

**[A/N: I've got a confession: I can't write romance. (As if it wasn't obvious. )]**


	3. Speak Softly Love part one

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

**Speak Softly, Love (Part One)**

One of my students came to me one day, and from the way he sounded it was likely he had been keeping his piece for some time. It was a short conversation, but one I intend to keep at the back of my head for a long while.

I have a habit of watching my students go whenever school is done for the day. I would wait in class as they disperse slowly one by one, or in groups. Usually nobody dares to stay behind when they see me still standing there, but for that particular day, one did.

That last lesson had been in Kagome's class. Kagome did not spare me even a glance when she left with her friends, and as I looked on after her, the class chairman came to approach me.

He waited for everyone else to leave before speaking.

"I see that Higurashi is always hanging out with you."

"I am her Maths teacher, Hojou, and she seeks me out," I replied. I seated myself at my table and looked back at him.

The chairman's lips tensed. "She is always staring at you," he said again.

I studied the boy's face to see where he was getting at.

"So you observe her," I noted matter-of-factly.

The boy looked like he was in pain as he struggled to say something next. It was as if there was something inside him preventing him from producing words. I waited as he stood there uncomfortably, stuck in his apparent self-conflict.

"I like Higurashi, Sesshoumaru-sensei," he blurted out at last. "But she is always pushing me off."

"Is that so. Then I'm not the right person if you wish for advice."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then?"

"I know," he said. "I saw the both of you. That time after school. At the art-room. I saw her and you together."

"What did you see?"

He struggled again.

"What did you see, Hojou?"

"I saw her sucking your cock, Sensei."

I adjusted my spectacles and peered down at him. He was shivering with sweat. Nodding, I weighed his words one by one judiciously.

"Have you told anyone about this?"

Hojou shut his eyes and shook his head in frustration. His fists gripped. "I don't understand; why is she doing those things to you? Why is she-" he paused to gather his words, "You're such a sick person!"

"Have you told anyone about this, Hojou?" I repeated slowly.

The boy collected his breath, then nodded. "Some other kids."

I brought my hands together into a steeple and took a long time before I spoke.

"You know that if this get out to the authorities, I will possibly never get to teach again? They might even put me behind bars."

"You should have thought about that before doing something so stupid!"

"So you're calling your teacher stupid, is that it? Did it never occur to you that she might have enjoyed it?"

Hojou gave me a disgusted look.

"How many of you know?" I then asked, no longer interested in prolonging the conversation.

"Around four. They might have told some others."

"Whatever. I want you to bring all of them to meet me. Seems like I have no choice but to offer you all with a compromise." I shook my head. "Meet me at the art-room at 4pm today. Yes, the same art-room. Make sure everyone comes. They wouldn't want to miss this."

Hojou kept mum and turned back rigidly towards the door. If he could, he would have glared at his teacher, but what little respect he had left for me probably prevented him for doing so.

I watched him as he walked out of the door, and cradled my head in my hands.

**[A/N: To be continued ….. (in other words, a cliffhanger)**

**'Kay, I'll be posting two chapters simultaneously for this one, cause school will be starting soon and I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. :-)]**


	4. Speak Softly Love part two

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

**[A/N: Anyone who actually ventured into a teacher-student relationship, tell me if it went well.]**

**Speak Softly Love (part two)**

I feel compelled to stress, remind you even at times, that this relationship I had with Kagome was purely, and strictly consensual-I never forced or exploited her. In fact most of the times (in exception to the incident in the car during our date), it was her who initiated anything that later followed. She was a conscious curious little being who had came to me that fateful day, with that lopsided grin and lowered gaze that reminded me of the late Princess Diana, and had I not entertained her then, had I just dismissed her entirely, perhaps it would not have come to this.

I was never attracted to her in the first place. To me she was just another nondescript student from my many classes, one that never brought any problems, or shone outstandingly from her peers. She was not particularly beautiful or popular, or a student favourite in sports. If you were to ask me now how I felt towards her, I would probably lapse into a deep silence and wonder myself. Did I love that girl? I probably did. Yet there was something else, a corresponding emotion more stronger than love that pulled me towards her. She was like a memory I had forgotten, something that got half-done now resurfacing, or perhaps an old regret coming back to haunt me. It could be anyone of those things that I saw in her, and I was doing everything I could, rushing, to understand and make sense of it all.

But I got lost in that search, strayed away by her unadulterated school-girl charms, distracted by the innocent sway of her nubile, developing body. Things I had never saw or thought of before were suddenly in the open, blatant in their purpose and intent. Kagome never said it aloud of course. None of us ever did. But the way our eyes were looking at each other at that point in time—we clearly desired each other.

I felt no wrong when I held her for the first time and touched her lips to mine; not even a sliver of conscience or guilt wormed itself into me. It was a one-of-a-kind, indescribable feeling, as if our fates had been waiting for that moment. The way she whispered "Sensei" to me and never actually mentioning my real name, reminding me of my status, and who I was to her. All of it felt right.

I would never allow anyone to break that perfection.

She cried into my shoulders that afternoon in class, when news broke of how the school art-room had caught fire yesterday, razing it to ashes and taking along the eight boys inside. The police did not suspect foul play, and in a issued statement said it was possible the students might have been playing with flammable spirits when it happened. In either way by the time the fire department came, it was too late.

Kagome spoke of how Hojou was just talking to her earlier the day before, and she had rejected him when he asked her out for date. She said perhaps had she accepted him, perhaps there would have been a turn of events, and he wouldn't have been involved in the fire. I told her that it was not her fault, and that things happen.

I don't understand. Here was a bright, promising student, aiming to take law in Waseda University after finishing his college. Why he would want to jeopardize all of this, I was not sure.

**[A/N: For anyone who is wondering if Hojou's death seemed fishy and too convenient, well, _of course_ it is. *grins* ]**


	5. Phone Call

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

[A/N: Hi again dear readers, sorry for the late update—I just started school two months ago and it's been hectic.

Okay, I lied (about the hectic part). Anyway thank you to whoever nominated this story in the recent Dokuga Awards for Best Lemonfic and Best Drama; shocking really because it should have been up for Best Creepy Portrayal of Sesshoumaru. Then I might have won.

Enough of talking, here's my latest offering to you guys. Please enjoy. :)]

**Phone Call**

The week before the summer holidays I developed a plan to meet Kagome. I spent a whole night sitting on my sedan chair at the balcony, accompanied only by my whirling thoughts, the occasional night breeze and some cigarettes. There were some moments when I felt like going out to the convenience store nearby to grab a beer, but I found that I could not move from my seat.

The plan was simple: I would call her up and tell her that I would like to bring her out to anywhere she wanted, preferably some place far, with a few hours worth of driving. Then I would go out with her and do exactly that. I would even bring a map of Japan with me if necessary, because I was never in favour of my car's GPS system anyway.

Yes it was simple, but people always say it is easier said than done. To me it was not about the whole process of the journey that would be difficult, but rather, it was the phone call I had to make itself. What if for some reason she could not get permission? What if she had other plans with her family and friends? There were a million possibilities for a single rejection. It became harder the more I thought about it.

On the third day after the holidays started, I finally went ahead to give her a call. I called her exactly at 7pm. Seven was Kagome's favourite number.

Kagome didn't take long to answer.

"Hello!" she said. It was my first time hearing her voice over the phone. She sounded more high-pitched than usual. There was also a quiet low rumbling noise at the background, as though she was inside an old elevator.

"Hello Kagome."

"Hello?" she said again.

"Kagome, this is Sensei," I replied.

"Huh? Sensei? Why are you calling me up? Do I have to come for remedial lessons? But you said the other time I didn't have to go!"

Being the straightforward person that I was, I decided not to beat around the bush. I took a deep breath and told her the truth. "I'm thinking of bringing you out to somewhere. Anywhere you want. Tell me when you are free, and I will get ready." I paused and added an afterthought: "This is not a _date_, by the way."

Kagome did not speak for a few moments and the silence was made more unsettling by the strange rumbling sound from the other side. There seemed to be a dubious quality to it; ominous even.

"Anywhere at all?" she answered at last.

"Anywhere at all."

"Gosh, that's so cool! Okay, we can go this Saturday? Is that okay, Sensei?"

"Sure."

"Okay, okay! So what do you prefer that I wear this Saturday? Do you want to see me in a skirt?"

"That is alright too," I said.

"Nah, I don't think I'll wear a skirt. You know what, I should wear that dress you bought for me the other time. What a great idea! I haven't worn it even once actually. Well, I tried it before, but I never went out with it."

"You should. Anyway I'm reminding you, we are not going out for a date."

"I know, I know!" said Kagome. "But I can't wait! I mean, wow! I'm gonna go out with Sensei! Woohoo!"

Not knowing what else to say, I remained silent.

"Oh my god, I'm so excited!" she went on. "Um, but can you give me some time to think about where we're going? I tell you when we meet, okay?" I transferred my phone (now warm and damp) to my other hand and nodded and said yes.

Kagome was still squealing when I ended the call. She sounded so happy. I moved to my bed table and took a pen and circled the calendar a few times firmly on the date for that Saturday. Then I went to the window, and shouted loudly outside to no one in particular. At that precise moment Kagura my wife ran into the room and with a panic look on her face, asked why I was shouting. I told her it was nothing.

That night when I laid in bed I wondered what Kagome would look like in the dress when I saw her that weekend. I had bought a knee-length blue satin dress for her sometime ago, something she said was in fashion. Images of her smiling, laughing and striking poses in that dress flooded my mind, as echoes of her cheery voice resonated within the deep recesses of my ears. I imagined she was in a clear airy field that had no trees whatsoever. Just Kagome, the lush green grass beneath her feet and the sky behind her that was as blue as her dress.

I could not sleep. I was overcome by the compulsion to release everything, as if there was something inside my chest that was on the verge of exploding, like a water balloon increasing in size. Unable to control myself I quickly went out of bed, then out of my house. The air outside was warm and humid. I started sprinting around the neighbourhood, running as hard as I could force my legs to. There was no one around—it was empty as a ghost town. I might as well have been chased by an imaginary dog.

After a few rounds I stopped, walked back home with my pajamas clinging wetly to my body, and took a smoke to relax myself. And still I felt like running again.

I wondered where we would be going.

**[A/N: I found that this story has been moving sombrely, which was why if you thought there was something funny with this chapter, it's probably because it is. And awww, who doesn't love summer holidays?]**


	6. Summer Holidays

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

_San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)_ performed by Scott McKenzie

Lyrics written by John Phillips

**Summer Holidays**

I parked my car a few metres away from her house and waited downstairs at the foot of the tori gate. At my fourth cigarette stick, Kagome appeared, skipping down the long flight of stairs and she carried a haversack with her. The lower hemline of her dress swayed around her legs at every step. Why on earth did she have a haversack with her?

"What are you carrying inside that bag?" I asked her when she finally got down.

She shrugged. "Extra clothes. You know, in case. I told my mom I was sleeping at Ayumi's house."

I placed a hand on my hip and gave her a look.

"What?" said Kagome.

"Put it in the boot," I said.

In the car as usual Kagome started fiddling with the air-con unit, and complaining about the heat.

"Don't you feel hot at all?" she was saying, as if it was the worst thing in the world.

"So have you thought about where we're going?" I asked instead.

"Mmm..." she went, crossing her arms. "Let's go to Hokkaido. They got delicious grapes and melons there. We can visit a vineyard."

"Are you sure?" It would take days to drive to Hokkaido.

"Mmm..."

"You haven't actually thought much about this, have you?" I said as I drove out of the neighbourhood and maintained a leisure speed.

"Hey. Maybe we could just go to a park. You know, like sit at a bench and eat ice-cream together and watch people play Frisbee with their dogs."

"That wasn't what I was planning when I called you. And it sounds like a date."

"You call that a date? What _is_ your definition of a date anyway?" Kagome went on. When I looked at her again, I realised she had taken an interest on my CD rack. She shook her head with distaste. "You have a music collection of a 70-year-old man. Shit, you even listen to opera." She took a CD out and placed it in the player. The sound of a guitar being strummed amid a dreamy landscape filled the car. I immediately recognized it as the intro to Scott McKenzie's _If You're Going to San Francisco_.

The both of us fell silent as we listened.

_If you're going to San Francisco_

_Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair_

_If you're going to San Francisco_

_You're gonna meet some gentle people there_

"So have you made up your mind yet?" I said again, when we stopped at a red light.

"Maybe that's it. Lets' just go to San Francisco."

"You said you wanted to go to the park."

"Okay, fine, fine, park! I don't even know where San Francisco is. But let's go to a real nice one okay. Not so near around here."

I took the map lying on my the dashboard, unfolded it, and tried to look for a real nice park in Tokyo. Not anywhere crowded or popular though. I had a fifteen-year old girl with me and I wouldn't want to be caught dead being in those kind of places.

"Look," pointed Kagome somewhere on the map, "here's a nice one. Where is that, Aoyama district? It doesn't look so far. Let's just go there, okay. I promise I won't be picky, even if it is the ugliest, stinkiest park in the world."

We took approximately two and a half hours to get there, and I had some lost moments. It was a normal average park, nothing special or spectacular to it. It was the regular hangout for an evening jog, or if you wanted to practise some taichi. There was an ice-cream vendor. We had a cone each and sat at a bench, but there were no people playing Frisbee with their dogs. We didn't even see any dogs.

Kagome and I sat there quietly at the bench, lost in our thoughts, and appreciating the breeze when it came. There was an old man in the corner wearing a singlet and long baggy pants and he was doing bending exercises with his walking stick.

"I wonder what Hojou is doing right now," Kagome suddenly said.

"What?" I went, surprised.

"I mean, what is he doing in the afterlife right now. I wonder if they have TV there."

"He is just a pile of ash inside an urn now," I replied, taking a huge mouthful of the icecream. Another silence settled between us.

"Imagine if Tanaka-san our school principal suddenly appeared before us and say hi," said Kagome again and seriously, as if she was relating a grim prophecy. "What would you do?"

"I will just tell him I met you here by sheer coincidence."

"And that you decided to sit with me and eat ice-cream together?"

"Yes."

Kagome nodded, and bit into her wafer cone. I listened to the loud crunching noises she made as she munched. Noises only she could make; noises of Kagome. I closed my eyes and let them infiltrate my ears, a cacophony of ice-cream cone crunching noises.

"Hey, Sensei, your ice-cream's melting."

The park was starting to get crowded around four o'clock so we decided to leave. Without a new destination in mind we just stayed put inside the car. Kagome played an album from The Tigers which I had not heard from some time. Once in a while she would go "Hey, I know this song!" or "Ah, too slow."

Song after song ended. I clutched at the steering wheel with both hands as each song passed through me like a cloud on the sky, as if never to return back. During the chorus of _Boku no Mary_ (My Mary), I suddenly cleared my throat and turned to Kagome. She was leaning tiredly in her seat and staring at the outside world through the windscreen.

"There's something I have to tell you," I started.

Kagome looked at me and her face cracked into a smile. Her hand reached for mine. "What is it, Sensei?"

"I already quit my job as a teacher."

"What!" She frowned and her fists curled into balls. "Why the hell did you do that for? How could you do these things without thinking?"

"I spent a considerable amount thinking about it, and I had made a decision. In either way I already tendered my resignation on the last day of school before the holidays. It's up to a few weeks notice."

"You never tell me when you do these kind of things! You only tell me after you do it!" Kagome grabbed my arm and attempted to push me. "Why?" she cried, turning breathless. "Why did you quit?"

"I think I wasted enough time of my life," I told her. Although it was not a complete lie, it was not the complete truth either. They were far more bigger reasons than that of course, but I felt it was not necessary for Kagome to know.

"What's gonna happen to me if you're no longer in school?" Kagome asked, pulling my arm back, and then pushing it again. Her face was red, on the verge of crying, but something told me she felt embarrassed to show her tears.

"You're a strong girl. I'm sure you can manage well. Also, it doesn't mean we can no longer see each other," I reasoned.

"I don't wanna go to school if you're not there," Kagome whispered, her voice broken. She leaned towards me and grasped lightly at my chest. "Don't you understand? I _need_ to be with you."

I held her shuddering body close to mine and caressed her long hair. I could feel the softness of her breasts against my chest, her short gasping breaths on my neck. I stared at the CD player. Kenji Sawada was still singing, as if oblivious to the intense emotions we were experiencing.

"Let's just run away then," I finally suggested to Kagome. There I said it.

Kagome slowly lifted her head to mine. "What? Run away? To where?"

"To our own world. We'll create one. A place where we don't have to live according to reality's expectations and rules. A world just for the both of us. No one in between."

Kagome looked confused for awhile, as though she was trying to make sense of what I just said.

I tried again. "I have another apartment here which I used during my university student days. We could live there if you want to."

"Are you serious?" Kagome went, her eyes widening in disbelief. "Really? We could live there? But won't people suspect us when we go missing? What if we get caught?"

"Not if we're careful. Just leave the worrying to me, alright. Anyway no one knows about the place, not even my wife."

Kagome grinned, showing her straight white teeth. "Sensei, you're the best."

"Show me."

She pulled me into a kiss, being more passionate than usual, and giggling in between. I could still taste the sweet remnants of the strawberry ice-cream on her tongue. Then she quickly scrambled back into her seat and put on her seatbelt.

"Cmon, what are you waiting for? I can't wait to see our new hideout!"

"It's not a hideout; it's an apartment," I corrected her. Then again, maybe it was.

I had a made a big decision then, I told myself as I drove towards the place, and one I'm not going to turn back from. Everything that happened was amounting to this. I couldn't care less if the law decided to catch up on me. In society standards this was what they called kidnapping. I knew very well what the penalty for it was.

I would know exactly what to do, when that time comes.

**A/N: If you're coming to San Francisco, summertime will be a-lovin' there...**

**Hai readers. Seems like this story is moving slowly by itself on a plot! (what plot?) **


	7. Homecoming

**A/N: My god, I really need to finish this story before the end of the year. Sorry to have kept ya waiting!**

**Homecoming**

We drove for three hours straight without stopping. Around six I decided to stop for petrol, and bought some groceries. I had suddenly remembered I had not been stocking up on both food supplies and toiletries in my spare apartment. The last time I went there was two months ago , and that too to only check the mail. Kagome preferred to wait for me in the car as I did my shopping and asked me to take my time.

I took a few packets of instant noodles and pre-cooked meals, a 1.5litre bottle of mineral water, a cereal box, milk, two tins of mushroom soup, two cans of beer, a pack of toilet rolls and some disposable shavers. I paid them with the petrol in total to the cashier, a very short bald old man with bulging eyes.

When I came back to the car, Kagome was playing games in her mobile phone. I nodded to the petrol boy, placed my things in the boot of the car along with her haversack, lowered the volume on the car stereo and continued the journey. The both of us were too tired to talk then.

My apartment was located in one of those modest unsuspecting cluster of blocks in the more quieter part of the neighbourhood. It was exactly 9.14pm when we reached. I parked the car and we took the lift to the seventh floor. Kagome lagged behind sullenly with her haversack as we walked along the empty corridor, her steps shuffling against the concrete floor.

Stopping in front of my door, I dug my keys and unlocked the door. There was a very loud creaking sound when it opened, and as I faced the bleak darkness that was the entrance of my house, I felt a chilly wind from inside envelop me. It was as if that thing, whatever it was, was greeting me home.

I stepped in and switched on the lights, as Kagome walked in from behind to the centre of the living room. There was nothing much to inspect—furniture-wise I only had a small television set and a couch there. She looked up to the ceiling and did a slow 360 degrees turn. Then she turned to me.

"I'm _hoooome_!" she said with arms outstretched. I shook my head and Kagome giggled.

~o.0.o~

We ate some instant soba for dinner while watching tv. I only had one futon with me in my room. Kagome wanted to sleep beside me so after she showered and put on her pajamas, we laid together in each others' arms.

"You smell nice," I told her.

"You too, Sensei. And I don't believe what we are doing. Do you believe it?"

"What _are_ we doing?"

"Lying here with each other in our world. Having each other all to ourselves. It's as if there's no one else exists except us. It's just us here. It's surreal—I can hardly believe it."

"Well believe it."

"Don't you think things have been happening so fast?" Kagome went on. "So much things have been happening. I must be the most luckiest fifteen year-old girl right now, because I'm spending my summer holidays with my favourite teacher."

"You forget something, Kagome."

"What?"

"I'm no longer your teacher."

Kagome looked at me, her face forlorn. Her eyebrows slanted and her face suddenly looked fragile that if I were to touch it, it would break into pieces. Her fingers lightly smoothed against the side of my face.

"You will always be my teacher, Sensei. Always." Then she closed her eyes and let out a deep long breath. Her body shivered as she did so, and that sigh when it left her, seemed to bring along with it something important, something that once was part of her.

I kissed her forehead and wished her goodnight.

After Kagome had slept, I pulled her off gently and went into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator. There was a lone tin of green peas inside. I threw that away. I arranged my groceries at their respectful places and did some household chores. Then I went to the bathroom and washed my face.

Taking a shaver out, I realized I had ran out of shaving cream. I used the toothpaste and applied it on my face and started shaving accordingly.

I suddenly felt a sharp at the side of my chin. I tilted my head further and saw blood dribbling out from where the blade had just touched. I stilled, watching the blood flow, then looked at my own face.

_How can she do this to me?_ I thought as I locked eyes with my reflection. _How can she said that after what I've done? Doesn't she understand?_

As I stood there staring at my own eyes in the mirror, searching for an answer and that faraway, unreachable sense of reassurance, the blood running down on my face started to trickle into the sink, and it painted red lines against the white porcelain.


	8. Goodbye Letter

A/N: It's the 3rd quarter of 2012 and I still have this uncompleted. *kicks myself*

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and its respective owners. :(

**Chapter Eight**

When I woke up this morning I was alone in my futon. I turned to the empty space on my left and slowly thememories of last night's dream flowed back slowly into my head like a steady continuous stream filling a vase, building up until it was overpouring and I felt like shutting my head off and remembering nothing more.

Awake and sober I did not immediately rouse myself. Instead I remained lying there and tried to listen to any movements inside my house, any sounds that might suggest another presence of a human being. There was none. The air in my apartment was so still that time might as well taken a pause.

I got up this time and as I was rubbing my eyes my other hand fumbled for my spectacles on my desk table. There was a piece of paper lying atop. I wore my spectacles and grabbed the paper. A strange sudden dread clutched at my heart. I almost did not want to read it but curiousity ruled over me.

Kagome had written a note to me.

_Dear Sensei,_

_I'm very very sorry. I wrote this to tell you that I think it's impossible for me to stay here. I think I must be drunk yesterday to agree to your proposal to come here last night. When I woke up this morning I was filled with an inexplicable sense of emptiness. I don't know how to explain it. It's the feeling you get some time after making a big decision. Suddenly it hits you and you're wondering why the hell did I do that? I just sat up on the futon and stared at the wall in front of me for half an hour and a crazy rush of thoughts was speeding through my mind like a bullet train.  
I just realized it was stupid of me to make you accommodate me like this. I can't live with you and have you support me while I just sit at home eating crackers and watching tv all day. Maybe at first you think it's okay, but after while it's going to weigh you down. Moreover you just quitted your job. I know you have a degree in history and all but I really don't know what job you're going to do after this. And what do I do while you're out there working? Yup you got that right, eating crackers and watching tv._

_I'm guessing you won't be introducing me to your neighbours and showing off to me the amenities around here. I'll just be like a poor doll stuck in a dollhouse who occasionally comes out secretly to have tea. Would you really want to subject me to this life? I'm only fifteen. I'm too young for this._

_I called my mother up. She still thinks I'm at Ayumi's house so I still have a chance. I'm packing my stuff and taking the train back home. Sure it's a very long journey but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Don't worry, I have enough cash with me._

_Sensei I'm sorry if you are disagreeable and feel offended towards everything I said here. As I said, I'm really very very sorry. But I'm going to make you feel sorrier if I don't do something now. I'm saving your butt actually. Can you imagine if someone somehow knows I've been hiding here and blabs it to the authorities? The consequences will be horrible._

_Love,  
Kagome_

_PS. I call you once I reach at my station. Please don't be angry at me._

I stood there for a very long time, reading the note over and over again, trying to make sense of every word. A thick shroud like a blanket had covered my whole being, blocking me from feeling any kind of emotion. In short I didn't feel anything. No anguish, shock, or devastation. I couldn't feel anything. I just stared at the note in my hand, and then I crumpled it and tossed it into the wastebasket calmly.

Still standing by the desk, my finger scratched the wood of the desktop. This desk had been with me for a long time. This is where I wrote my university thesis. I scratched it with my fingernail as if there was something I wanted to claw out. Sawdust started to appear. My nail felt hot, caused by the friction.

She said she was going to call me once she reached. And the only thing I was capable now was to wait.


	9. Between the Dark and the Light

A/N: I know, this story has been hanging for like, ages. I'm getting older and lazier, but SessKag has been in my heart for sucha long time. I will probably regret it a lot if I don't finish this.

Oh yes, by the way, I have removed my previous chapter (chapter 9), as I felt it did not fit in well with the story. Thus **this is a completely new chapter** that continues from where we left off after Kagome mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a letter for her Sensei.

_Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and its respective owners. =(_

**Chapter Nine: Between the Dark and the Light**

"You look wasted," Inuyasha said, peering at her. He was leaning over the window sill, his neck dangerously craning out. He wore a pale green hospital tunic and a paper tag around his wrist. His figure looked strangely gaunt since the last time she saw him.

"Wasted, as in, shagged. Where the hell have you been?"

Kagome sat slumped in the chair with the rigidity of a ragdoll, hair sticking at the sides of her face, her blue summer dress wayward and creased. Her heavy backpack was tossed to the floor beside the chair. She stared at his arm that was swathed with clean white bandages, supported by his shoulder.

"You know, I ran all the way here from the train station when I heard you had an accident. I thought you were dying or something," said Kagome.

He sneered. "Took you long enough. I called you like, when, this morning?"

Kagome folded her arms and huffed, too tired to make a ruckus. Her face was red. "I was somewhere really far away. So gimme a break."

"Oh yeah? I _am_ giving it to you, girl. I waited and waited and waited and when you finally did come, I didn't scold you now, did I? Now can you reach into my drawer and take out my lighter?"

"Good god, Inuyasha. You broke your arm and you're still thinking of a smoke."

"Don't be a preach now. I broke my arm, not get lung cancer." Inuyasha looked back outside the window, as if there was something more interesting to watch there. "Besides this hospital smell is suffocating me."

Kagome made a face and pulled out the drawer, sighing like a reluctant mother giving candy to her child. Inuyasha glanced at her over his shoulder, a little smirk crooking the edge of his lips.

"So? You haven't told me where you've been."

"I was with my secret lover, spending the summer holidays together," Kagome answered, and she looked squarely in his eyes as she said this, her face dead serious. "Just the two of us at some remote place."

Inuyasha flinched, just a little, and it showed when his nose flared. He went very still, staring at her, his mind going into all sorts of directions. Kagome' eyes were strangely empty, like clear plastic. _What the fuck is this? _he thought. _Some kind of game?_

"If that's the case," he replied tentatively, trying to appear like he didn't really care, "then why did you come back?"

_Because it dawned on me when I got the call, when I heard something had happened to you and that fear that I might lose you forever—it struck me like a zap of lightning, like _bang!_—and everything became so crystal clear at that moment as if I had been given a new pair of eyes, somewhere between the dark and the light, and the dawn and the dusk, what my heart suffered so much, and I suddenly understood that I could only belong to you, you, and only you, and it was so crazy only discovering it now, when it had been so plain and obvious._

Suddenly a strange gurgle erupted from her throat and Kagome's face broke into a large grin, and a second later she was doubling over with laughter.

"_Gotcha,_ Inuyasha!" she squealed. "You're so gullible! Oh my god, you face was so funny!"

"Damn you, Kagome! Seriously." Inuyasha plopped his bottom at the edge of the bed, and his hand gripped the lighter tightly. He was glaring at her and unable to keep a stern face at the same time.

Kagome was still giggling when she spotted the basket of fruits on the drawer. There was a fruit knife inside. She picked an apple up and brought it under her nose. A fragrant smell wafted.

"Who gave you this?" she asked.

"I don't know," Inuyasha said, still annoyed. "It was already there when I came in."

"I'll cut some for you, alright?" Kagome placed a paper napkin on the table and started slicing the apple. A smile was still plastered to her face, while Inuyasha dug in his tunic pocket with his free hand for his cigarettes.

She wondered if she should the peel its skin off, like people always do, then thought otherwise.

"You know, your older brother who teaches at my school? He already quitted his job, so suddenly."

Inuyasha lighted the end of his cigarette, frowning. "Oh yeah?" he said, and a large cloud of smoke puffed out from his mouth, billowing out like a dragon's breath.

At that moment, a nurse's head popped inside the ward and her eyebrows knitted in a delicately disturbed manner, as most nurses do.

She stared at the two teenagers, her mouth twisting, then spoke in a loud assertive voice. "Excuse me sir, but this is a _no-smoking_ zone."

Inuyasha put up a hand. "My bad!" he called out. He inhaled his last one and tossed the stick out of the window.

"Pain in the ass," he muttered when the nurse was gone, and he began patting his pockets again. _What a waste of a good stick!_ He turned to Kagome, still cutting the apples, and he looked at her for a while, blinking absent-mndedly. There was something he wanted to ask her, but forgot.

"You were saying?"

**A/N: And it goes on and I wonder why I have a penchant for writing vague stories with masochistic characters (says the sadistic author). Please don't hate Kagome. She's only 15. **

**And please review, because it would really inspire me to get off my lazy old ass and write more.**


	10. Mistakes

**[A/N: Shaddup I know. I'm number one in procrastinating. *shields herself as impatient readers stone her* On a serious note, I have recently changed the previous chapter, so if you're unaware of it, please go ahead to check it out. Also, I'm posting two chapters simultaneously! Happy Reading! ^^]**

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

Love Hurts by Nazareth written by Bouldeaux Bryant

Lyrics © House of Bryant Publications, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

**Chapter Ten: Mistakes**

_I'm young, I know but even so_

_I know a thing or two, I learnt from you_

_I really learnt a lot, really learnt a lot_

_Love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot_

-**Love Hurts**, Nazareth

The summer holidays were over. I was in my armchair one evening, watching on television Tamasaburo's signature kabuki performance of Heron Maiden. Standing alone on a dark stage, Tamasaburo was decked out in three layers of kimono, the outermost being garishly grim in its display, as he wallowed on the ground like a new widow. I was glued to the back of my seat, feeling envious. How could anyone portray such anguished emotions on his face, while maintaining his grace and eloquence? I had no problems with exhibiting grace and eloquence, but the portraying of emotions I had.

I remembered once when Kagome had commented on my lack of facial expressions.

"Sensei, you're always _so_ professional, like a scarecrow!"

I am as professional as a scarecrow. Those things can only come from the whimsical observations of Kagome, something I thoroughly missed.

The front door clicked and opened. I immediately removed my legs from the top of the coffee table, just in time as Kagura entered the house with Rin in tow. My wife was handling a couple of shopping bags on either hand, with Rin's pink schoolbag hoisted on one shoulder. She dropped everything on the couch when she saw me.

"You," she said, pointing a vicious finger at me. "What are you doing here?"

I looked around the living room, feigning confusion. "What? Last time I checked, this house was paid under my name."

"I've really had it with you! What do you think this is? A hotel where you can check in and check out as wherever you like?"

She strode across to the wall clock, which also served as a compartment for letters and a hanging placement for keys. If I was not wrong, it had been a Christmas gift from her parents many years ago. I always thought it was an ugly little thing, the shiny brown oak of its finishing a mismatch with the robin blue wall.

Kagura pulled out a letter and hurled it at me. She had intended it for my face, but it landed on my lap instead like a dead fish.

"Have you read this letter?" she asked, standing before me. Obviously I had not. I glanced to my wife before opening it. Her hands perched tightly to her hips, as if she was restraining herself from bursting out at the seams.

I opened the letter which was posted to me. A niggling feeling at the back of my throat told me this was no ordinary bill. The sight of the letterhead then met my eyes—it belonged to my school—and upon seeing it, I immediately felt no desire to read further.

"Do you know that when you were gone, the principal and some teachers had come here asking for you? And do you know what they told me? They said you had quitted your job, and the reason they came was to beg you to change your mind! Good god, Sesshoumaru! Do you know how _stupid_ I felt at that point of time? I even asked Principal Tanaka if he was joking, and he looked at the other teachers before sending me a grave shake of his head—yes, that was how foolish it was." She shoved two frustrated hands into her hair—newly-done, from the looks of it—and gave a heartfelt screech of agony.

"_Why?! _Why do you always do these crazy things without telling me!?"

I tossed the letter to the table and folded my hands. I felt like I had heard that line somewhere.

"So? What did you tell them?" I asked.

"I couldn't tell them anything of course, especially when I was the last person to know. For heaven's sake, Sesshoumaru, I am your goddamned wife…"

"Well now you know."

"Can you _still_ explain to me what is going on? Have you thought how the heck are we going to survive now with you not working? You know the economy is not good now and they just changed the prime minister." A shower of spittle was spraying at my direction in all sense of liberty. "And _god_, if the members of my _ikebana_ club were to know…"

I wiped the side of my face. "I'm going to get a new job, Kagura. So don't tell me what to do. I'm fully aware the possible cancelling of my credit cards is at the top of the list of your worries."

That stopped the woman short. Kagura blinked rapidly at my reply. She hugged herself in a defensive stance and looked away, and I knew I had struck home.

"You still haven't told me where you went to."

I gazed at the television screen which was partly blocked by her. Tamasaburo was spinning in circles. Silence overcame me—it was sometimes the best answer.

"Tell me the truth. Are you having an affair?"

I stared at my wife's face. Her eyes shifted all around, refusing to make eye contact with me. Something told me she still wasn't ready for the truth yet, even if she demanded for it.

"I'm a jobless man now. Who would want me?"

"A stupid woman obviously." She rushed to gather the bags on the couch, then turned back to our daughter who stood plastered by the door.

"What are you doing there?" my wife snapped at her. "Go take your bath."

I stayed in my armchair for the next hour and finished my Marlboro pack. Kagura had a strict rule against me smoking in the house—Rin had asthma and it wouldn't be good for her lungs and all that wish-wash—but as of that moment, I couldn't give a tinker's toot about anything. I refused to go into my room where my wife was, not wishing to see her sobbing in bed. The television was now showing a re-run of some variety show featuring fresh, eager-faced celebrities, as they humiliated themselves in asinine games in the name of popularity. I switched off the television, fed-up, and just then the door of my daughter's bedroom creaked open.

I spied Rin, half her body creeping out of the door, her big doe eyes peering at me from below. I beckoned to her with a wave of my fingers, and she quickly ran to me, a piece of paper flapping in her hand.

"And why are _you_ not asleep yet?" I asked, as she climbed into my lap. My daughter was dressed in a cotton sleeping gown, smelling like baby powder and peaches.

"Did you fight with Mummy again?" she asked me instead, the look in her eyes almost that of disappointment.

"She's just angry with me because I made a mistake. But that's the thing. Everyone makes mistakes." I quickly showed interest to the piece of paper she was holding, wishing to change the subject. "What's this?"

"Something I drew for art and craft in school today." She began to point at the colourful drawing, explaining it slowly to me. "This is Mummy, and this is Daddy."

Mummy and Daddy had bloated orange faces, their equally bloated fingers connected in a mish-mash of fat sticks. 'MY FAMILY' was written above in squiggly big letters. "And where are you?" I said.

Rin giggled. "I'm the one taking the picture. So I'm not inside."

I went to sleep in my chair that night, my daughter's drawing resting in my hand. I must have slept very soundly, because when Kagura and Rin left the house in the morning, bringing with them all of their belongings, I had been completely unaware.

Unlike Kagome, Kagura did not even leave behind a letter. It was only when I realized that the wall clock had disappeared right from the wall, that I knew she was really gone.

**[A/N: It never pays when you have an extra-marital affair. Oh well, what's Sesshy's gonna do now? Oh yeah, **_**ikebana**_** is the Japanese art of flower-arrangement.]**


	11. Unfortunate Discovery

DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is Rumiko Takahashi's and its respective owners. :(

**[A/N: Let me just state first and foremost: I am a sadistic writer and I relish in no indulgence churning happy ending for my stories. I tend to torture my characters, or put them in depressing situations. And at the rate this story is going, geez, I hope none of the characters end up hanging themselves. *although I admit, I had previously entertained the idea ***

**Have fun reading. I love my constant readers, and when I'm not so busy I'll try to respond to some of your reviews! =)]**

**Chapter Eleven: Unfortunate Discovery**

"You know how this goes, buddy. You're the lady now, so you go first."

He had this cocky smirk on his face which I instantly loathed. And if that wasn't repulsive enough, he had a stick of Pall Mall dangling from the corner of his crooked lips. I had once tried smoking Pall Mall during my university days. I had run out of cigarettes and a bunkmate of mine had nicely given me a stick. The thing tasted like hundred-year old bread, with a big, dusty mushroom growing out of it. I never touched it ever since.

And now the smart-ass was blowing stale-bread smoke at my face, cheeky twinkles in his dark eyes as he called me a lady, and I could not give him a good whack. You see, I owed the guy.

I took out the manila envelope that I had hid under my coat, and put it across the table. Without removing his cigarette, the man deftly grabbed it and peered into its contents. I observed the ash quivering at the end of his stick, waiting for it to drop onto his lap. But it miraculously did not.

He unzipped his motorcycle jacket and stuffed it somewhere inside. I noticed his shirt underneath—a simple black top with 'GUNS & ROSES' written on it in the middle.

"I'm gonna do a great service to you, buddy, by not counting the money in your face. But—" he put up a gloved hand, "if I go home and find out you've cheated the gadzooks outta my heart, you know what I'm gonna fucking do to you?"

"You're going to sneak into my bed when I'm asleep and jam the muzzle of your pistol into my ear."

He tilted back his head and suddenly exploded into a deep, raucous laugh that rumbled in his chest. Immediately I regretted entertaining the guy. He threw himself to the back of his chair, running his hands through his black, unruly hair, still sniffling. "I like you, buddy. You're very funny." Then he produced a small brown envelope from the inside of his jacket, and tossed it across the table.

"My one-week stint. Don't worry. I didn't put a bomb inside," he said, when he noticed me handling the envelope with cautious care. I took out the thick stack of photographs inside—fifty? one hundred?—and flipped through them one by one with a mechanical swiftness.

The man leaned forward to tap his cigarette on an ash tray. "In my whole experience as a PI, your case is one of the most common. You people make my job a breeze. But it's good, eh? Fathers should always look out for their daughters."

I sent him a severe glance, then focused back on the photographs.

"And how long is your experience?"

"Twelve years," he declared with a proud grin, this time without the annoying cigarette. He had remarkably white teeth for a heavy smoker—I assumed he was one. I guess a woman could say he was attractive, in a Hell's Angels wannabe way.

"Then you must have at least figured out she is not family."

"Fucking A!" He clutched his chest, his face alight as if he had received a revelation from God. "You know I had that thought running once somewhere, but then, hell no! It's impossible. You look so innocent and dowdy-dowdy with your glasses—but hey, I've learnt through my job time and time again that appearances are extremely deceiving. Damn, I thought this was just another overprotective-father-not-satisfied-with-what-his-girl-is-up-to case. How old is the lass anyway? Fourteen? Fifteen?"

I dug out my wallet from the back of my trousers, my movements reflecting my utter indignance, and pulled out a note.

"Another ten thousand for you, Naraku," I said, "to shut up."

The evening was catching up. I found a good bench in the neighbourhood park to sit, quiet and faraway from the bustling streets, only with a pack of pigeons at my feet to keep me company. This time I took agonizing care to scrutinize the stack of photographs in my hands, as my eyes took in every excruciating detail.

Kagome on the way to school, Kagome on the way home. Kagome waiting at the traffic light while eating an ice lolly, or throwing a garbage bag outside her house. Kagome choosing a pair of sandals in a store with Ayumi, another one of my previous students. They were normal stills showcasing her daily life, nothing out of the ordinary. It was interesting how the camera had successfully captured the ennui of her features—the hooded eyelids and pink mouth slightly apart—they somehow portrayed to me as a soft and sensual expression, like just before a kiss. I wanted to draw the lines of her lips with my finger.

Then came a different series of photographs, the ones that had set my chest aflame for a different reason, when I had scanned through them earlier.

In one picture taken across the road, Kagome was seen heading towards a house wearing a dark green turtleneck sweater and black skirt. The next showed her meeting with a boy at the doorstep. One of his arms was broken, supported by his shoulder with bandages. A zoomed-in picture showed them hugging, and Kagome's face became hidden, while his face buried into the crook of her neck. To the uninitiated eye, they looked like a perfect couple, young teenagers in blissful love. And then they entered the house together.

I turned back the last photograph. Naraku had written the address on it. It was smart thinking on his side, but it was highly unnecessary—for I recognized the house. I also recognized the boy.

I kept the photographs back into the envelope. My hands were shaking and my breathing had turned erratic. Should I just chuck them into the bin, or wait to get home and burn the whole lot in a large fire?

A pigeon flew and landed onto the empty spot beside me, its wings rustling loudly. It cooed and cocked its head, and began to approach me tentatively, inquisitive but trying to maintain a safe distance at the same time.

I moved my hand, knowing full well it would fly off and escape once I tried to touch it. But I did it anyway.

**[A/N: One thousand yen equals to a hundred plus US dollars.]**


End file.
